“Brynn—”

“No, seriously. It’s not like I was expecting exclusivity or whatever, but I think I’ll have a hard time scraping the image of the three of you from my brain.” A flash of the beautiful girl wrapped around Reid’s naked body went through her mind, making her want to heave.

He latched his other hand on her opposite arm, squaring her to face him, his blue eyes fierce. “But I don’t want her, I want you.”

She jerked her arms from his grip, no longer able to keep the lid on her boiling anger. “Oh, right. Because cancelling a date with me to go tag-team fuck some other girl is exactly the way to show me you care. You should write goddamned Hallmark cards.”

He ran a hand over his face, his expression stricken. “No, it’s just… complicated.”

She smirked. “No, I think it’s pretty simple. Now you know why I didn’t want you to come inside my house. My life is ugly. I wouldn’t want to get involved with me either. Good-bye, Reid.”

She turned her back to him and stuck her key in her car door.

“Screw it. You want to talk about secrets?” he asked, his volume rising. “Let’s do that, then.”

She turned the lock and reached for the door handle.

“You know why that girl is here? Because I’m screwed up, Brynn. When I look at you, I don’t just want to play nice and date you. I don’t just want to fuck you. I want to own you. Tie you to my bed and do whatever the hell I want to you. Use you.”

Every muscle in her body stilled and some foreign emotion stirred low and deep in her belly. She couldn’t turn around; she just stared back at her own wide-eyed reflection in her car window.

“And it scares the hell out of me because I can’t keep that desire in control when I’m with you. I don’t trust myself not to hurt you, to take it too far.”

The sad current of his words made her chest ache. She swallowed past the dryness in her throat, hoping her voice would still function. “I don’t understand. Why that girl?”

He sighed, and she could picture his chest heaving with the weight of what he had revealed. “I asked Jace to help me find a way to get rid of this insane need so that I could be with you. Have a normal relationship. That’s what tonight was about. Brynn, I’m so sorry. I just—I didn’t know what else to do.”

She should get in her car and go. Not look back. Her mother had always told her that when people told you who they were, you should believe them. If Reid thought he was dangerous, maybe he was. But the anguish in his voice tugged at her. This man wasn’t violent—every ounce of her God-given instincts told her that.

She took a deep breath, turned around, and met his stormy eyes. “What if I tried to help you?”

“What?” The shame on his face turned to confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You said tonight was about getting this out of your system. Maybe you’re right, maybe that will help,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “But you don’t need that girl. You could try with me.”

Something unreadable lit his features, but then he grimaced. “No way. You have no idea the things that go through my head, the stuff I want to do—”

“So show me,” she said, cutting him off, her courage rising. “I know you think you’re scaring me off, but the only thing that’s going to do that is you lying to me. So you have some stuff to work through. I have a lot of baggage, too. Maybe we can do this, get you past it, and then move on and date like normal.”

He shook his head. “We can date like normal without doing this. If you’re still willing to give me a chance, I can leave this behind. I think you knowing about it will help me control the urge better.”

She gave him a half-smile. “That’s not how it works. My mother makes her money fulfilling the fantasies guys keep from their partners. If we’re going to date, I don’t want to be wondering if you’re secretly sneaking off to feed that part of you.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you. I swear I won’t lie to you again.” He said the words fervently, like he truly believed them. But she knew him wanting the statement to be true wouldn’t actually make it so.

She had no idea if there was a certain protocol in his slave-girl role-play, but she put her hands out to him, palms up. “I’m giving myself to you tonight. Let me help you check this off your fantasy list.”

Storm clouds gathered over his face. “Stop, Brynn. You don’t know what you’re signing up for.”

She held his gaze, refusing to look away, despite the anxiety hammering through her. “Like I said, show me.”

“No.”

“Fine.” She let her arms fall to her sides and turned back to her car. “Have a nice life, Reid.”

His deep groan cut through the night and strong hands landed flat on the roof of her car, his muscular arms imprisoning her on each side. “Don’t do this.”

Heavy footsteps sounded behind them. “Is everything all right out here?”

Jace.

“It’s fine,” Reid said through clenched teeth, his fierce tone rippling over her and awakening her senses.

His quickening breath was hot on her neck, and his body heat radiated against her back. She should’ve been scared; she could sense his dwindling self-control—the man’s easy-going facade being stripped away by some dark, primal instinct within him.

But something inside her wanted it. Wanted to push him over the edge. Her voice came out as a whisper. “Don’t let me leave, Reid.”

The muscles in his arms flexed and bunched as if the war within him was raging in every sector of his body. He remained silent for agonizingly long seconds, then pushed himself away from the car. “Fine, you think this is what you want? Then lose the dress, Brynn.”

“Wh-What?” She spun around, looking from him to Jace, who stood a few steps behind him with raised eyebrows, then to the area around them. Jace’s driveway was protected by hedges and trees and far off the road, but did Reid actually expect her to take off her clothes out here? In front of his best friend?

Reid’s lip curled up. “What’s wrong?”

“But—”

“You said you wanted to give yourself to me, to know what this is about. Well, you’re getting your wish. If this isn’t what you want, then say ‘stop,’ and we’ll go to dinner and have a date like normal people.”

She ground her teeth. So that’s what this was about? He wanted to prove he was right. That she couldn’t handle him. Well, screw that. She reached behind her and unzipped her dress, then slipped the narrow straps off her shoulders. After one fortifying breath, she let go and the material puddled onto the cobblestones at her feet, leaving her in her sheer bra and panties.

A pained expression flitted over Reid’s face, and Jace’s eyes lit with male appreciation.

“Jace, is the guesthouse unlocked?” Reid asked, his voice disconcertingly calm.

“No, but I can go grab the key and open it for you.”

Reid nodded. “Thanks. Do that.”

Jace jogged toward the side of the house, and Reid walked toward Brynn with deliberate steps, his eyes not leaving hers. The moonless evening and the soft garden lights cast his face in a combination of light and shadow, but the intensity of his expression was clear. She held her breath, her heart beating so fast she worried it would hop out of her chest and flop onto the ground between them.

When he reached her, his hand cupped her bare shoulder. “Turn around and close your eyes.”

She followed his instruction and faced the car. Soft cotton brushed against her face, then tightened over her eyes—her dress, now a blindfold. His fingertips caressed the back of her neck, making her shiver despite the muggy night air. “You’re mine tonight. I let Jace look at you, but he gets nothing else now, you understand?”

She nodded, relief flooding through her. She liked Jace, but it was Reid she wanted touching her. Even if this version of Reid was one she hadn’t quite met yet.

He kissed her shoulder blade, nipped at it. “You remember what you called me the first time we met?”

She paused, trying to wrangle in her buzzing brain so she could concentrate. What had she called him? Reid? No. She wet her lips. “Sir.”

His hand curled around her waist, caressing her bare stomach. “That’s right. Tonight, that’s what you call me.”

The feel of his fingers and the seductive confidence of his voice hypnotized her. She nodded again.

“Tell me you understand,” he said, his voice low but firm.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, girl. Let’s go.”

In one swift movement, Reid lifted her off her feet and into his arms as if she weighed nothing. She grabbed for his neck, disoriented from the blindfold. “Whoa.”

“I’ve got you, sugar. I won’t let you fall.”

Sounds drifted to her ears as they made their way across the yard—crickets, frogs, the rustle of the leaves as the breeze touched them. She wondered if the landscaping continued around the side of the house or if she’d be exposed to the neighbors. The idea that people might see her half-naked, being carried by this powerful man, should’ve bothered her, but she was at ease in his arms.

She had given herself to him, so if he wanted her exposed to others, then that was up to him. Tonight, he owned her.

Damp heat pooled between her thighs at the thought.

Uh-oh.

What had she gotten herself into?

What the hell had he gotten himself into? Reid sat a blindfolded Brynn down on the edge of the bed and tossed her purse by the footboard. “Don’t move.”

He stalked back to the doorway of the bedroom and leaned against the frame, watching her. He had fully expected her to bail the minute he’d asked her to strip in front of Jace—that had been his intent. But she’d shocked him, calling his bluff. And the minute he’d seen her bend to his will, he’d gotten an intoxicating rush so strong, it had made his head spin.

Jace laid a hand on his shoulder, keeping his voice low. “The room’s yours. Leah and I will hang out in the main house. You need anything else from me? Do you want me to stay?”

Possessiveness ripped through him like lightning, and he had to dial it back before responding. “No. I’ll be… fine.”

Now if only he could believe that.

Jace’s gaze flitted to Brynn, then back to him. “Just trust yourself. She does.”

Reid nodded, the weight of that knowledge settling over him. “I know.”

Jace closed the door behind him, shutting out his last safety net. Reid stared at Brynn. Even in the soft lamplight of the room, he could see the rosy buds of her nipples peeking through the lace of her bra. His cock strained against the denim of his jeans, hardening to the point of agony. Since she’d shown up on Jace’s doorstep tonight, he’d been trying to hold back, trying to prove to himself he was over this stupid fantasy. But seeing Brynn offer herself to him so naively had only served to conjure familiar images of her collared before him. God, he was so fucked.

His mother had always taught him you could tell everything about a man based on the way he treated a woman. She’d spent her life as an advocate for women’s rights. And now here he was, unable to resist the urge to dominate Brynn like she was some kind of slave. His mom would’ve been so ashamed.

But he was done questioning it for the night. He had to cleanse this from his system, and Brynn needed to see why she shouldn’t jump into things she knew nothing about. By the end of this, they could both move on. They’d either go forward and start a normal relationship, or more likely, she would run away completely freaked out and want nothing to do with him. Either way, tonight he was giving himself over to it.